


Jump Toss

by Voidflower



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, figure skating AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 14:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11853057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voidflower/pseuds/Voidflower
Summary: "Kageyama can do this. He knows he can. He’s been watching Hinata jump for months in detail, examining every part of his skating to copy it and improve it for both of them. If anyone can make Hinata fly….“I can do it. I can throw you so you’ll land perfectly. Just close your eyes and pretend you’re landing a double flip. The ice will be there under your skates. I’ll bring it to you.”Kageyama and Hinata are singles skaters, but they practice together all the time. And Hinata really, really wants to try a throw jump.





	Jump Toss

The announcement comes out after practice, but Kageyama and Hinata are still at the rink, so they don’t realize that the world has moved while they skate on, oblivious, underneath the humming fluorescents of the Karasuno Ice Complex.They’re the only ones left, which isn’t unusual. Their rinkmates work hard, but Kageyama and Hinata inhabit another plane of obsessive drive for the top of the podium entirely. They’re fully prepared to trade gold and silver for the duration of their careers, and both agree that it’s best that they help each other do so. It’s always more satisfying to beat someone at their peak, after all. It works for them, and Coach Ukai knows this and leaves them to their own devices.

So they stay late together, and run laps together, and learn choreography together--and then, because they can, practice each other’s routines side-by-side in an effort to beat each other with programs meant for someone with completely different strengths. Kageyama takes off beside Hinata, trying to match the height and speed of his jumps--which isn’t easy, since Hinata probably has a kangaroo somewhere in his family tree and always looks like he’s going to crack his head on the ceiling when he goes in for a quad. And because Kageyama wants to know _exactly_ how much higher than him Hinata is jumping, he’s learned to push off the ice within milliseconds of Hinata. It’s the only way to compare. He times the landings, too, since it makes his own jumps faster and more consistent.

Hinata, in turn, copies the angle of Kageyama’s limbs in his beloved layback spin, fighting to emulate the floating balletic grace that comes so naturally to Kageyama. Hinata always has trouble with spins, never seeming to know exactly when to hold the pose and when to release. But when he copies Kageyama, he can be still in the middle of a whirlwind, like some of Kageyama’s legendary precision somehow transfers across the ice. He doesn’t know exactly why it is, but… He and Hinata just skate _better_ when they’re skating in tandem.

 

And then there are times like this, when synchronized skating turns into practicing pairs moves they’ve seen rinkmates perform. Kageyama, taller and broader, takes the man’s part, and it’s almost funny how easy it is to throw little Hinata around. He’s taken to the female role with surprising grace. Or maybe not so surprising--even now, skating in the senior division, Hinata can still twist into a Biellmann spin.

 

It was inevitable that one of these sessions would turn into throw jump practice. It’s probably good that Coach Ukai isn’t here, or he’d be screaming at them to stop fooling around before they crack Hinata’s skull. Again.

 

“Kageyama, throw me!” Hinata demands, circling Kageyama like a zealous, orangey asteroid. Kageyama scowls, but his scowls stopped working on Hinata long ago.

 

“Stupid, do you want to break your legs? Then who will I compete against?”

 

“Everyone else, Kageyama! I’m not the only competitive skater! Besides, I trust you.” Hinata, for some unknowable reason, actually looks like he means it, and Kageyama finds himself acquiescing.

 

“YES! C’mon, Kageyama, I saw Michimiya-sempai try this with Daichi-sempai, and I remember what they did. Okay, so you put your hands on my waist like _this_ …”

 

The first few times, Hinata either lands precariously on some combination of feet and hands or wipes out completely. He doesn’t seem at all bothered by the impacts, though. It’s one of the reasons he and Kageyama work together so well--neither of them know how to shy away from pain.

 

But neither of them are much good with failure, either. By attempt number 9 without even a single rotation successfully completed, Hinata is screaming in frustration.

 

“I watched them really close! We’re not doing anything wrong, so why can’t I land this?”

 

“You can land this.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“Because I’m the one throwing you. Dumbass.”

 

“Kageyama! You’re not the only one skating! This is a pairs move! You have to throw me and I have to land. That’s why it’s pairs! Throw me again!”

 

In lieu of responding, Kageyama does. Flinging Hinata across the ice expresses the emotion he’s feeling better than words ever could. This time, Hinata lands. It’s a clumsy, ugly landing, but it’s not a fall. Kageyama smiles the smile he’s been told looks like a Bullet Bill hatching a revenge plot, whatever that’s supposed to mean. It’s just a smile, right? It means he’s _happy_.

 

“Land better next time!” says Kageyama encouragingly.

 

“It’s a good thing you’re not my coach,” says Hinata. Well duh. How could they compete if Kageyama was coaching Hinata? That would make _no sense_. Who would he even root for?

 

Hinata crowds back against Kageyama for another take-off, and it’s a testament to how focused Kageyama is he doesn’t think _at all_ about sniffing Hinata’s hair to see if it smells like oranges or not. He just plants his hands above Hinata’s hips, then pauses, frowning. “You said you trusted me, right?” he asks.

 

“Yeah, of course. You’re amazing! You learn everything so fast, and you’re good at everything you try, and I hate losing to you but I’d rather lose to you than someone else, y’know?” Kageyama isn’t sure he does. Maybe this is just one of those Hinata things, like throwing up before every competition or waving to his sister in the stands right before the music starts playing: saying things that don’t make sense but still leave Kageyama’s chest feeling kind of warm like he’s just had a gold medal draped over his neck. Except Hinata’s hair is closer to bronze against his chest… or copper, but there aren’t copper medals, and… he’s lost his train of thought.

 

“Why do you ask?” Hinata wonders, and Kageyama jolts out of his contemplation of Hinata’s hair.

 

“So I know it’s a pair move so we both have to do it right, but you’re not the only one landing. You have to land the jump, but the way I throw you changes how you have to land, right?”

 

Hinata turns around just enough to see Kageyama’s face, leaving Kageyama’s hands on his sides. He looks kind of red, which is weird, since Hinata’s stamina is usually really good.

 

“Yeah, I guess?” He’s scrunching up his nose thoughtfully, and Kageyama’s heart does the gold medal thing again.

 

And Kageyama can do this. He knows he can. He’s been watching Hinata jump for months in detail, examining every part of his skating to copy it and improve it for both of them. If anyone can make Hinata _fly…._

 

“I can do it. I can throw you so you’ll land perfectly. Just close your eyes and pretend you’re landing a double flip. The ice will be there under your skates. I’ll bring it to you.” Hinata is staring with wide eyes. There’s something in his expression that Kageyama can’t read. But that’s nothing new for Kageyama, so he lets it go. “Trust me.”

 

“Okay,” breathes Hinata. “Let’s try again.”

 

They try again. Again. Again. Each time, a little closer. Hinata falls in almost every way a person can fall. The sun has set completely… in fact, by now, it’s probably closer to rising again.

 

And he falls and falls, and Hinata shouts “again!” with no hesitation. Like he’s actually _trusting_ Kageyama the way he hadn’t even realizing he’d been asking for--absolutely and unwaveringly.

 

“Again!” sings out Hinata, and this time, the grind of metal against ice accompanies a joyful shout.

 

They try the throw jump again a couple more times, just to make sure it isn’t a fluke. It isn’t. Every time Hinata returns to position himself between Kageyama’s hands, it feels like stepping onto a newly-surfaced rink. It feels like something begging to be continued, to be perfected by pits and grooves and scars.

 

Hinata is the first one to check his phone in the locker room, but Suga sent the text to all of them.

 

“ _Guys, GUYS. The ISU changed the pair skate and ice dance rules. THERE CAN BE SAME-SEX PAIRS NOW. GUYS. GUYYYYS.”_ The rest of the thread is mostly exclamation points from their rinkmates--Asahi has contributed a picture of Daichi crying quietly into his skate bag while Tanaka does a handstand in the background--until Suga’s name appears again.

 

_“This changes everything, doesn’t it?”_ Hinata reads the message aloud, and Kageyama catches his eyes. They’re elated, shining--the same expression he wears mid-jump, when he could either fall or spiral back to the ice, victorious. Kageyama loves that expression.

 

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Everything.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this was largely inspired by this whitesnow14's excellent fanart of Kageyama and Hinata pair skating and several months worth of headcanon buildup and... yeah. This is the result. There's a non-zero chance this will end up being part of a series, so if you liked it, then keep an eye out. I have... a lot of notes on this 'verse. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Also please share with me the image of Kageyama SPIKING HINATA INTO THE BOARDS LIKE A VOLLEYBALL. 
> 
> (And yes, I'm looking at you, Viktor "coach-and-compete" Nikiforov. I love you and believe in you and you are also ridiculous.)


End file.
